I write about the television business. Why networks cancel your favorite shows, why sure things don’t go to series, why the Nielsen ratings still matter, if it concerns the small screen, it concerns me too. I've studied media since college and have been covering television since 2009 for sites such as FilmSchoolRejects.com and ScreenInvasion.com. In that time I've learned it’s one of the most fascinating entertainment mediums to explore. It’s a medium that runs a million miles a minute where one week’s smash hit can be another week’s failure. It takes a trained eye to understand its complexity, and that’s what I intend to do.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Does HBO's 'Entourage' Have A Legacy 10 Years Later?

How do we judge a series’ legacy? Is it by ratings? Cultural awareness? Career success of the people involved? There are so many things that factor into how we determine whether or not a series has survived its initial popularity that determining its legacy is always difficult. Sometime in 2015, HBO and Warner Brothers will release a cinematic continuation of Entourage, a series that, today, is ten years old. As we look back on what it did or didn’t achieve, wondering if a big screen continuation is even necessary, we have to ask, does the series have a legacy of any kind a decade after its premiere?

When it was airing, Entourage was a success. Not a massive success, not a cult-success, just a success. People liked turning into the series the way they like going to a local diner for a giant bacon cheeseburger. The series was comfort food for many. It was never trying to be more than it was. It was simply a series about a group of longtime friends living the Hollywood high-life. While it became a giant gag among cynics, it’s hard to argue the series had much in the way of stakes. Vince either got the role or he didn’t (he usually did), and, as the series has remained off the air, little’s been seen or heard on it positive or negative.

Say what we will about a series like Dexter, but despite an ending that sent critics and fans into a hate storm, the series has a legacy. People will remember Dexter Morgan and his serial killing ways for years to come. The characters and story-lines of Lost continue to lead conversations despite the series being gone since 2010. However, even though it had a lead character that spent years being quoted by many, it’s hard to say Entourage had the same effect as others in the long term.

“Let’s hug it out,” has pretty much left the lexicon of popular culture since the series ended. So, if that’s the case, why is it getting a feature film? Is the fan-base so large that it can sustain the numbers needed for box-office success? Clearly there must be a reason HBO felt an Entourage movie was a worthy venture from a business perspective. Perhaps, in the studio’s mind, the show’s fan-base is one that requires content to be active. Perhaps this is an instance, like comfort food, where in order for us to be excited for the product, we need to have the product in our hands.

Entourage was never a series that demanded audiences go an extra mile to make it a “thing.” It just chose to be the thing that it was regardless of audience participation. In that way, the series is sort of commendable. It was doing crass, R-rated humor when it wasn’t trendy to do so for a while. Now, with films like Neighbors and 22 Jump Street topping the box-office, perhaps Entourage has a chance with its revival to cement itself the legacy it wasn’t able to in its original run.

So no, Entourage doesn’t have much of a legacy in the ten years since its premiere, but it does have something. It has loyalty from a decent sized audience that enjoyed it for the fun that it was. No one may be beating down the doors for reunion panels with the cast or starting fan campaigns on various message boards to see a full blown series revival, but there’s no doubt people will return for the series theatrical debut next year because, sometimes, you just want that giant cheeseburger for dinner.

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